


to wage war with the lines of darkness

by Pepperdoken



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dimension Travel, Gen, Horcrux Hunting, Regulus Black Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pepperdoken/pseuds/Pepperdoken
Summary: Regulus Black goes into the cave, never expecting to leave -- and then, surprisingly, hedoes. Which means he now has to figure out what to do now. But after betraying Voldemort, he can't get help from anyone he might have before.Isn't it convenient, then, that he has a brother on the other side of the conflict?
Relationships: Regulus Black & Nara Shikako, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Sirius Black & Nara Shikako
Comments: 27
Kudos: 736
Collections: Dreaming of Sunshine Exchange 2019 B, Heliocentrism — a Dreaming of Sunshine recursive collection





	to wage war with the lines of darkness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [floweringbloom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/floweringbloom/gifts).



The travel this time is more turbulent. It takes longer, and Shikako finds herself dizzy and disoriented shortly into a trip that feels like it takes forever. Eventually, the shaking and spinning turns into compression, like she’s being forced through a narrow tube— 

And when she’s finally ejected, it’s in the middle of an area rife with chakra signatures, though in a deserted area. 

Shikako’s too disoriented to fight, or even to talk to anyone, so she runs her chakra into the Gelel stone and shifts into shadow state, pooling into the shadow of a building. The lack of physical form helps with the disorientation a bit, but Shikako still finds herself letting time pass as she continues to recover from her trip. 

Travelling between worlds has never felt like this before. Is it because she’d finally realized that the only way to get home would be having Gelel send her to _every_ world without her? 

Hours pass, and so do people — but despite the general feeling of tension in the town, not one of them even pauses to glance at the shadow she’s in, darker than all others or not. It’s a complete lack of awareness that means that they _couldn’t_ be ninja, no matter how developed their chakra signatures are. 

She tracks them, building up a mental map of the town she’s in from their movements. It _could_ , possibly, be Yugakure — stranger things _had_ happened — but even with the different layout of the area, she doesn’t feel the distinct nature energy of the hot springs anywhere nearby. There _is_ a dragon vein nearby, though, and at the very edge of her range she thinks she feels what might be a convergence of dragon veins. Shikako vaguely itches to go check it out, but the thought of covering that distance is still too much. 

Eventually, a signature catches her attention. It’s a star-ladened darkness that is so familiar to her that she catches herself moving towards it without thought, jumping from shadow to shadow along the narrow streets of the village. 

Whoever the signature is, they aren’t Gelel — but despite their obvious agitation, they feel enough alike that Shikako wants to know who they are. 

Towards the edge of town, she catches up with the source of the signature: a dark-haired young man who looked to be several years older than her, wearing an old fashioned cloak over what looked like a robe. The clothing rings a distant bell, but she can’t figure out what it’s reminding her. 

The man pauses at the edge of the town, rubbing his forearm, and Shikako hesitates in the shadow. There’s no other shadows to jump to, at this point, so if she wants to follow him, she’ll either have to leave shadow state… or jump into his shadow. 

He’s standing in the shadow of the same building Shikako is in. Not one person has noticed her presence at all — it would be _easy_. 

He feels like Gelel. He feels like something _familiar_ , the one stable point in an adventure that’s lasted an eternity and yet no time at all. 

The man shifts, and Shikako slips into his shadow. He doesn’t walk any further from the town, though. Instead, he turns on his heel, and Shikako is dragged along with him through another tube. 

What the _fuck_. 

When they pop back into reality again from whatever the hell just happened, Shikako’s left with the same disoriented feeling she’d been recovering from _before_ she’d sensed the man. It’s not _quite_ as bad as it had been after she’d arrived, but it’s still uncomfortable. 

...There are more signatures like the man’s in the house he’s striding towards. The other signatures are far darker, having fewer stars than the man Shikako is in the shadow of — but they still feel more like Gelel than any other person Shikako has sensed. 

He enters the house and pauses just inside the entry way. One of the other chakra signatures in the house is in a room just up the stairs Shikako can see, and for a second she thinks that’s where he’s going to go. Then he deliberately turns away from the stairs up and makes his way out of the ostentatious public part of the house, and into what’s clearly the servant’s side. 

The kitchen he enters is empty, but he comes to a stop inside it and says, “Kreacher.” 

Shikako has only a second to wonder what he’s doing before there’s a _pop_ and something arrives. Whatever it is isn’t human, obviously, but it’s also obviously intelligent: it asks, “Master Regulus?” 

The man — Regulus, apparently, and that’s starting to ring some dim bells — hesitates before he replies, “Take me to the cave, Kreacher.” 

Shikako stills, reaching for the vague memories of Before. There’s something there, something about Regulus and Kreacher and a cave, something that she thinks is going to end badly — but she can’t _remember_. 

So she stays still and waits, and watches as the cave is opened with blood, as Regulus and Kreacher get in a boat, as Regulus peers over the side into the water and shudders at the sight of the drowned bodies there. 

Then he pulls out the locket. 

And Shikako remembers. 

Oh, _hell_. 

* * *

“Make me drink all of it,” Regulus orders Kreacher. He’s trembling. He doesn’t want to do this, he doesn’t want to _die_ — but the Dark Lord must be stopped, and this is the only way. “Then switch the lockets, and leave _immediately_ with the Dark Lord’s locket.” He pauses, and takes what he hopes is a steadying breath. “Don’t wait for me. Don’t tell any of my family what happened here. It is imperative that you destroy the Dark Lord’s locket at _any_ cost.” 

“If it’s so important,” says a young female voice from behind him, “wouldn’t it make sense to do it yourself?” 

Regulus spins, his wand leaping into his hand, a stunner firing as soon as he registers the other person. There should be no one else here — if there _is_ someone here, that must mean that the Dark Lord is not far behind. He’ll have far less time than he expected to steal the Dark Lord’s horcrux. 

A girl is standing next to the basin, completely unaffected by his spell, peering in at the murky potion. “You just need this thing, right?” she asks, reaching for the potion. Regulus’ next spells have just as little effect, then the girl’s hand touches the surface of the potion. 

A second later, the basin is empty of both potion and locket. The girl — whatever she is — finally looks over at him. “You said something about swapping lockets, right?” 

Regulus doesn’t respond, but Kreacher takes a hesitant step forward. After a long pause, the house elf continues forward, dropping the locket Regulus had prepared into the empty basin. The next moment, the locket vanishes beneath a rush of potion, and the girl thanks Kreacher. Then she turns away from the basin entirely. “And that’s the smart way to do it,” she begins, pulling another locket out of nowhere and bouncing it in her hand as she speaks. It’s not the replacement that Regulus had prepared to swap out the horcrux with, so that… must be the Dark Lord’s horcrux. “No muss, no fuss, and no playing into a madman’s plans.” 

...she looks like she should still be in Hogwarts, Regulus realizes. She looks like a fifth year student at most — not like someone who had managed to trail Regulus into the cave and effortlessly broken through the Dark Lord’s defenses. Defenses that were meant to protect _part of the Dark Lord’s soul_. 

“Who are you?” Regulus demands. He wants to ask _what are you_ , as well, but the power she’s shown is… unnerving. 

The girl — or the thing that looks like a girl — tilts her head consideringly, but her face is placid and blank. “Not going to introduce yourself before asking my name?” she asks, then smiles. “But then again, you don’t really need to introduce yourself, do you? You can call me Shikabane-hime, Regulus Black.” 

If Regulus hadn’t taken a position in the Department of International Cooperation after leaving Hogwarts, he would have missed the significance of the name she offered. But he _had_ , and he doesn’t. 

Shikabane-hime. 

_Corpse Princess._

He swallows dryly. Sirius’ favorite book as a child had been the _Tales of Beedle the Bard_ , and Regulus has heard every story in it enough times to memorize them. First read in the voice of their nanny, and later — after they’d grown old enough to begin learning magic and the presence of someone who wasn’t a Black became a liability — in Sirius’ voice. And then — later still, when there was no one else to read them to him — he’d read them to himself and Kreacher in an undertone. 

_There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight..._

He knows that the stories are just that, stories. But if they had even a sliver of truth… Death had been ruthless in hunting down the brothers who had cheated him. 

And what is making a horcrux but trying to cheat Death? 

... _Regulus_ had been willing to die here, if that was what it took to get the Dark Lord’s horcrux. “Shikabane-hime,” he begins nervously. “What brings you here?” 

She catches the locket, and instead of throwing it in the air again, she holds it in front of her. “Oh, just one piece of a puzzle,” Shikabane-hime replies. Her other hand comes up, and she taps the lid of it with one finger. 

A symbol blooms out from that simple touch — a circle inside of a triangle, bisected by a line — and the lid flies open. A screaming wraith is ejected, and Regulus watches as the Dark Lord’s horcrux is destroyed by just a _touch_ from what is at the very least an avatar of Death. 

Shikabane-hime smiles at him. “You would have died to ensure this was destroyed,” she says, closing the locket with a sharp _click_ before starting to bounce it again. There’s a tone in her voice that makes Regulus think that if she hadn’t arrived, he _would_ have died. “What do you plan to do now? You’ve turned against your _dark lord_ , after all.” 

Regulus winces. He… really hadn’t made any plans past switching the Dark Lord’s horcrux with a fake. He hadn’t believed he would live past it. “I… need to remove the Dark Mark, so that he doesn’t realize I’ve turned against him,” he starts. “By cutting my arm off, if necessary. And then I need to find somewhere safe to hide from the Dark Lord and his followers.” 

“Oh?” she asks, tilting her head consideringly. “Where were you thinking of hiding?” 

Regulus is _certain_ that if he suggests the wrong person, Shikabane-hime will leave him here to make his way out — or not — on his own. He just hopes that his answer isn’t the wrong person in her mind. “My brother,” he replies. “Sirius. He offered me help, once…” 

He’s not sure that Sirius’ offer is still good, not now that he’s actually been a follower of the Dark Lord instead of still being in the process of being recruited. 

She doesn’t respond for what feels like ages to Regulus. While she’s probably only silent for a minute at most, the lack of response makes him more and more nervous the longer it goes on. Then Shikabane-hime blinks, and nods. 

“Alright,” she says. “Where do we need to go?” 

He winces. “About that…” 

Shikabane-hime listens with surprising calm as Regulus stumbles through an explanation of what he knows about where Sirius lives, things he’s learned from the Death Eaters who had been ordered to find Sirius’ home and either convert him to the Dark Lord’s side or make an example of him. About how Sirius disappears into the muggle world and shakes off every attempt that the Death Eaters make to trail him home. 

Once Regulus stops, she nods. “Not a problem,” Shikabane-hime replies. 

Less than an hour later, Regulus finds himself standing in the hallway in front of what is probably Sirius’ very muggle apartment. Shikabane-hime had done in minutes what the Dark Lord’s followers had failed to do for months — with the use of a book and a map, both publicly accessible. 

Most of that time hadn’t even involved finding where Sirius lived. It was spent with Shikabane-hime studying the Dark Mark, followed eventually by removing it by _drawing_ on his arm. 

Shikabane-hime looks up from the locket she’s still toying with, and smiles. “Ah, here he comes.” 

“How do you know?” he asks. He doesn’t… exactly _doubt_ her, but there’s nothing that could have alerted her, as far as he’s aware. 

“You and your brother are very similar,” she replies, the locket vanishing from her hand, and she straighted. “ _Very_ similar, and very distinct from other people.” 

She doesn’t say _other wizards_. She hasn’t even used the term “muggle” once, Regulus realizes, and he abruptly finds himself in the very uncomfortable position of wondering if there are other, greater powers that look down on the Wizarding World like the Wizarding World looks down on muggles. 

A few minutes later Sirius turns the corner in the hallway, and comes to a stop. His wand is in his hand, and Regulus is abruptly glad that his own wand is securely tucked away in its holster. Regulus raises his empty hands slowly, and waits. 

“Regulus,” his brother finally says, sounding displeased. “I’m surprised your _friends_ didn’t tag along on what I’m sure is going to be a friendly visit.” His gaze doesn’t once leave Regulus, which he considers to be a huge oversight on Sirius’ part. Of the two of them, he would definitely call Shikabane-hime the greater threat. 

“I — we — need help,” Regulus says. 

“Oh?” Sirius drawls in a tone-perfect imitation of their father. “Didn’t you say that I was the last person you would go to for help the last time we spoke?” 

He grimaces at the reminder of that conversation. “Yes, well. The people I would have gone to for help then are the last people I can go to _now_.” He rolls up the sleeve on his left arm, watching Sirius’ face. He can see the moment that Sirius realizes his arm is blank, and holds carefully still as he’s hit with a cancelling spell. 

“ _You_ turned against your precious _dark lord?_ ” Sirius says incredulously. “ _You?_ ” 

“I didn’t have a choice,” Regulus snaps in response. “He was—” 

A cleared throat interrupts him and both he and Sirius turn to look at Shikabane-hime, who is looking faintly irritated. “I know you two have a lot to catch up on,” she says, “but there’s probably better places for it than the middle of a hallway where anyone can walk into the middle of it.” 

“I _cast_ a muggle repellant charm,” Regulus mutters, but he relents. He doesn’t want to irritate Shikabane-hime. 

Sirius, on the other hand, has no such reservations. “Okay, two questions. First of all, who is this, and second of all, isn’t she a bit too young for you?” 

Shikabane-hime does nothing except stare at Sirius, but the hairs on the back of Regulus’ neck start to rise. She isn’t focused on him,but that doesn’t mean that he’s missed by whatever she’s doing — and what she is doing is making Sirius entirely aware that she isn’t amused by his insinuations. “You may call me Shikabane-hime,” she tells him, after the sudden cold focus vanishes like it hadn’t been there. 

His brother stares at her for a few more seconds, still pale, then looks over at Regulus with a clear question: is she safe to be around? 

Regulus really can’t do anything except shrug. He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Shikabane-hime, certainly, but _safe_ … 

“Right,” Sirius says after a long pause, fumbling in his pockets for something. “Let’s… take this inside…” 

He’s pretty sure that Shikabane-hime saw the subtle flash of silver light leaping from Sirius’ wand, too, but she doesn’t react to it. Whatever spell his brother cast… she must not have an issue with it. 

* * *

_Potential ally contact, consider safehouse compromised, hold and wait for further details_ is _not_ the most reassuring message that Sirius has ever sent to James, but it’s the only thing that he _can_ say at the moment. It’ll be fine, regardless of what happens — he’d much rather sacrifice himself by stepping into a potential trap than risk James and Lily. 

And the thing is… there’s still a chance that it’s a trap, but Sirius can think of several more plausible stories that they could use than Regulus turning against You-Know-Who because of a _house elf_. And Regulus can talk as much as he wants about horcruxes, but Sirius knows his brother had always adored Kreacher as a child. 

“So what about you?” Sirius asks Shikabane-hime. Regulus had said very little about her, just that they’d encountered each other when he went to get the horcrux. And given that he’d met her in the middle of an inferi filled cavern… she must be skilled, no matter what she looked like. 

She shrugs. “Your dark lord is a problem that needs to be taken care of, and I can take care of it.” 

She says it like it’s a reasonable answer — like You-Know-Who and his followers haven’t been murdering with near impunity. Like You-Know-Who hadn’t, apparently, turned to the darkest of dark arts for immortality. 

Sirius slides his gaze sideways to Regulus, but he doesn’t seem to disbelieve her at all. “Okay,” he says slowly. “So what do you plan to do now?” 

Shikabane-hime blinks placidly. “Find and destroy the rest of his horcruxes, of course.” 

Regulus bolts upright in his chair, and he shares a horrified glance with Sirius. “He made _more_?” 

“Of course he did,” Shikabane-hime replies in a tone of mild distaste. “But of course, he assumes that his secret is safe. That means he isn’t going to be watching them as carefully as he really _should_.” She shakes her head, apparently despairing at the lack of caution. 

Unsure of what to feel, too confused by the rapid revelations, Sirius looks at Regulus once more. 

Regulus looks back, then turns to Shikabane-hime. “I didn’t expect to leave that cave,” he replies bluntly, “but I still intend to destroy the Dark Lord.” 

She nods in response to Regulus, and turns to look at Sirius. “I’ve never made any attempt at hiding the fact that I’ll never follow You-Know-Who,” he replies with a shrug. “Of course I’ll help bring him down.” 

Shikabane-hime nods, and smiles. “Let’s get to work, then.” 


End file.
